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Mercedes Benz SLK-Class Review

Csongor Czezar
May 28, 2016
2 min read

You always saw those Hollywood movies from the 50’s onward featuring the Mercedes SL, and amazed you the “ultimate roadster”, but it was just too darn expensive. Luckily the guys from Stuttgart launched just before the Millennium, a smaller version of it, the SLK-Class .

If anyone cares the SLK stand for sportlich (sport), leicht (light) and kurz (short).

Well, here we have now this small luxury roadster, which direct competition is few, like the BMW Z4, Audi TT and Nissan 370Z, and last but not least the Porsche Cayman. The Bimmer is more sporty, less luxurious, the Cayman is aspiring for his bigger brother the 911, performance and sadly, price-wise too. The most affordable prize of this bunch goes to the Nissan.

Who would buy this car? A good question! Since its introduction in 1996, the answer would have been : trophy wives. Small, agile, not overly sporty, easy handling car, who’s drivers were ladies in 80% of the cases. With the 2011 model this perception is changed. We are looking at a perfect match of the bigger, badder SL, or even some call it a baby SLS. You can see a lot of guys driving this car these days.

Under the hood there is change too. Three engine option is available. A 4 cylinder 201 hp, a V6 cylinder 302 hp, and an AMG 8 cylinder with 415 hp. The real punch start from the V6 upward. While the SLK 250 accelerates from 0-60 in 6.5 sec, the AMG does the same thing in 4.1 sec. Talk about difference. Almost double the price though.

The interior of the car reflects the exterior design, everything is upscale, and quality. Whatever looks metal IS metal, and what feels like leather IS leather. There are also a cornucopia of Mercedes specific features available, like Magic Sky Control, which turns your sunroof dark on the touch of a button, also the AirScarf what blows warm air around your neck if you happen to live in San Francisco, and having one of those nice summers which scarred even Mark Twain away from here. One can also appreciate the retractable hard top, while other big names in the industry gets away with soft-top. One complain is against the space. It’s way too small. Sitting next to the driver seat, you feel like in a penalty box.

Going forward with the masculanization of the SLK, it has much sharper handling than its predecessors, while the suspension still gives you a comfortable ride, no matter if you driving in the city or tossing it around some canyon back-road. A six speed manual transmission is standard while i would opt for the 7 speed automatic one, with paddle shifters, which are working perfectly by the way.